Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Guillermo Vignote Mignorance was born in Madrid in 1934. Guillermo recounts that his parents were political activists who met in the Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas (Unified Socialist Youth) and were only married a short time. His father was a doctor and fled from Spain on the last boat to depart from Alicante, an important site of evacuation during the Civil War. Guillermo describes the poverty of his early years. His mother, a divorced woman with few work options, supported him by managing a guesthouse where they resided with six other families sharing one bathroom and one kitchen. His mother was part of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) and, as a result of her militancy, was detained for two or three years during his adolescence. Guillermo notes that his uncle and grandfather were both imprisoned for their political activities and his great uncle spent fourteen years in prison. Guillermo explains that in the early 1960s he reconnected with his father by chance, as they were both working as doctors in Morocco. His father had remarried and Guillermo's mother and his father's new wife became life-long friends, living together after his father's death. Guillermo narrates how he met his wife, their courtship, marriage, and experiences raising their four children during the dictatorship. Guillermo discusses his militancy in the PCE and his perspectives on the current political climate